THIS IS AN EXTREMELY EASY WAY TO MOVE FROM SHOOTING IN AUTO MODE TO MANUAL MODE.
By the end of the class, you will be shooting in manual mode, by default.
The Rule of Thirds is a widely accepted rule-of-thumb embraced and utilized by photographers of all levels of experience.
There is another rule that has been around as long as the rule of thirds, however, many photographers of today are not aware of it – The “Sunny 16 rule” for exposure.
Using this simple method of setting your camera’s aperture, shutter speed, and ISO will enable you to set your camera up for successful exposure on a sunny day and allow you to focus on composition – allowing for extremely creative shots.
You will be introduced to The “exposure pyramid” and the three elements that make up the pyramid:
-Aperture. You will learn how the aperture settings can mimic the pupils of a human eye and distinguish the amount of light allowed into your camera.
-Shutter speed. You will learn how the shutter of your camera can mimic the blinking of the human eye to distinguish the time allowed for light to enter your camera and the affect that it will have on the exposure of the images captured.
-ISO. You will learn about the sensitivity to light that your camera can be set to and the correct settings under different lighting conditions.
By using this hard-and-fast rule, you can “set it and forget it”. Confident that your photos will have near perfect exposure, you can then concentrate on simply finding interesting subjects and shooting.
By using this method, there is no hesitation to check the light meter prior to taking the shot (and missing the shot).
In sum, the Sunny 16 rule is a method of setting the three exposure settings on your camera which will allow you to get great exposures on a sunny day (not just the beach).
Once you are comfortable using the Sunny 16 rule, you will learn hard-and-fast exposure rules to use under different light conditions:
The “Slightly Overcast 11” rule
The “Overcast 8” rule
The “Heavy Overcast 5.6” rule
The “Sunset 4” rule
As with most other photography rules, they were made to be broken. However, by using the rules, you will have a starting point to dial in your camera. You can take photos and zero in from there.
The exposure rules are a great way to begin shooting in manual mode and building your confidence as an amatuer photographer.
